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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. row — a line
  3. court — of a king
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. court — for sport
  6. content — happy
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. club — for golf
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wake — a trail
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. content — the amount
  18. club — a group
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wind — moving air
  22. court — of law
  23. wind — moving air
  24. club — for dancing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com